PART TWO: Like Mother, Like Daughter
by BubblesBlossomButtercup
Summary: Sophie Walker lives with her Aunt. She hardly ever sees her mOm, who is a warden of a juvenile delinquent center in Texas. So when her mum invites her to stay at CGL for the summer, Sophie is reluctant. She thinks it will be the worse summer ever. Little does she know that she will learn a lot about herself, friendship, her mother and what exactly goes on at CGL. R&R
1. Chapter 1

**This is the second part of my Holes FF. Initially, it was more of a drama and friendship based FF, but Part 2 will have a bit more romance within the storyline. For this FF to make sense, I recommend reading Part 1 of Like Mother, Like Daughter.**

 **Sophie Walker is the daughter of The Warden at Camp Green Lake. Her relationship with her mother isn't too fantastic – Sophie barely knows her mom, having lived with her Aunt and Uncle for most of her life and only seeing her mother on the rare special occasion. Therefore, it was surprising when Sophie was asked to stay with her mother for the summer. Sophie's initial impressions and experiences at CGL were not too pleasant. Neither were any of her encounters with her mom, who forced her into uncomfortable situations, made her search for a rogue pen-knife and even dig holes. Sophie is still trying to figure out how to communicate with her mom, and what she really wants from her. Although the mystery that is her mother is far from solved, Sophie has begun to form some relationships and friendships with the delinquents of D-tent in particular.**

 **Part Two will continue exploring her developing relationship with both her mother and D-tent, as well as introducing the character of Linzi (her friend who is visiting from home).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise.**

 **Please Read and Review- feedback is greatly welcomed and appreciated.**

 **Like Mother Like Daughter**

 **Part Two**

 **Chapter One:**

There was an uncomfortable and awkward silence when Squid and Sophie had pulled apart from one another. Sophie couldn't make eye contact with him. She stared at her knees, feeling her cheeks blushing red, refusing to look up. She wondered if Squid was looking at her. She felt like he was, almost as if she could feel his eyes boring into her head.

His gruff mumble broke the silence, "Do you wanna go back to the Rec Room? The guys are gonna wonder where we are."

"Sure," Sophie shuffled off the cot and marched ahead of Squid. She saw his hand twitch as she passed, almost as if he was about to reach out for her.

They said very little as they made their way to the Rec Room, Squid attempted some strained conversation at points, but Sophie, still feeling flushed, embarrassed and unsure of herself, gave very monosyllabic responses. She was worried Stanley had gone straight back to the Rec Room and told everyone, and they'd be laughing at her, or worse, high-fiving Squid or doing any of those odd things that boys say or do when it involves girls.

"If Caveman's not said anything," Sophie said slowly, still not looking at Squid as she spoke, "then please don't say anything about what just happened to the others."

There was a pause. Sophie couldn't gauge his reaction as she was still not looking at his face, "Um, ok," he said shortly, his voice had a slight sharpness to it.

The D-tent boys didn't seem to have any idea that Sophie and Squid had just been making out in the tent. They carried on as usual, joking and laughing about the things they always did, and didn't even seem fazed by the fact that Sophie and Squid had been absent for quite a while and had returned together. There were no sneaky comments or snide remarks, no knowing glances or raised eyebrows. It was clear Stanley hadn't said anything at all.

Zigzag was sat on the floor with a big roll of paper and some crayons. Sophie wondered where he had managed to acquire these items, they didn't seem to be the type of thing Camp Green Lake just had lying around.

"What are you up to?" she asked, perching on the only available 'seat,'- an unstable looking coffee table which was scorched, marked and graffitied. Squid had gone over to talk to Armpit, who appeared to be **still** playing pool.

"I have been investigating," Zigzag said, raising his eyebrows as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I have been interviewing people as witnesses."

Sophie didn't ask any more questions. She glanced up at Caveman who was hovering, with Zero, just outside of the group.

Stanley caught eye contact with her, his brown eyes looked sad, almost as if he had been crying. Zero stared at her mournfully as well.

Sophie absentmindedly scratched at the table, adding to its patterns of marks and scars. She frowned heavily. She could not see what their problem was. Why were they looking so sad? Why had Stanley acted so strange? She hadn't done anything wrong, had she?

 **I will update as soon as possible, please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Please read and review!**

 **Chapter Two:**

Sophie spent a little while longer chatting and joking with the guys. Squid didn't act any different with her, not that she really expected him to. He just treated her as he normally did. Stanley and Zero both kept their distant, but again, that wasn't really too different to usual. They did seem to keep themselves to themselves, and never seemed to be particularly close to the rest of the group.

As the others began to leave in drips and drabs, calling it a night and heading back to their tents, Sophie held back a little. Eventually Sophie was left with Zigzag who was sitting on the floor going through his 'notes,' and Stanley and Zero who were sat a little away from them, looking at a letter Stanley was holding, Zero silently mouthing the words as he read through the letter. Stanley smiled at Zero, folded the letter up and put it into his pocket. The boys both got up and began to make their way out of the Rec room. Sophie sprung out of her seat in an attempt to catch up with them, "Hey, are you guys alright?"

The boys just mumbled a response which didn't fill Sophie with much hope that they were. She walked a bit quicker, trying to catch eye contact with them. "Are you mad at me?" she demanded.

Stanley sighed, "Sophie, just leave me alone, okay? I don't want to talk about it right now,"

"Talk about what? I have no idea what I've done wrong," Sophie stood in front of the boys, blocking their path.

Stanley eyes sought out another escape route, "Nothing, you've done nothing wrong," he mumbled, "let us pass, we've got a day of digging tomorrow, we've got to get our sleep."

"If I've done nothing wrong, why are you being weird with me?" Sophie felt like grabbing him and shaking him, frustrated with how he was being.

Stanley tried to dart past her but she side-stepped in his way, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"Squid…he's just not good for you, okay? He's bad news," Stanley met her eyes for a moment as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, confused.

Stanley shook his head, "Doesn't matter, ignore me. Let me past, Sophie," he spoke slowly, very seriously, now looking Sophie dead in the eye.

Sophie moved aside, glaring at him and he walked briskly away. Zero hesitated before following Stanley. He waited until Stanley had disappeared out of sight.

"He's right about Squid, you know," Zero said very quietly, "But I think a lot of the reason why he's so upset is because he likes you….he really likes you….couldn't you tell?"

Sophie opened her mouth slightly, shook her head, she had no idea.

"But don't tell him I said that," Zero said quickly, "I just thought you oughta know."

 **Feedback is greatly appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think, how the FF could be improved, what you would like to hear, etc.**

 **Chapter 3:**

For the next few days, Stanley barely made eye contact with Sophie, nor talked to her either. Even Zero seemed to be communicating with her even less than he usually did. He was standing by his close friend's side instead. Sophie missed the illumination of Zero's wide smile and how it made her feel happy whenever she felt responsible for making it appear. She missed how comfortable she had begun to feel around Stanley, and how she didn't feel like she had to be careful of what she said or act any different around him. She always felt that she was putting on some kind of front around the rest of D-tent, that she hadn't really shown the true Sophie yet.

Sophie also found herself feeling a bit disappointed with Squid. She wasn't sure what she had expected from the kiss (second kiss in fact) but I suppose she expected **something.** Yet, he carried on acting as though nothing had happened at all. He seemed a bit distant, even. She couldn't blame him. She felt, perhaps, that she had even given him the impression that he should act as though nothing had happened. Yet, she still couldn't suppress this feeling of disappointment every time he just walked past her without acknowledging her or didn't respond to something she had said to the group.

Normally, Sophie would have completely wallowed in the fact that she was starting to feel incredibly ignored by a number of D-tent. She had become old news, and the boys were disinterested to a point that almost bordered on them treating her like one of the lads. She should have been flattered really, to be so much absorbed into the group that they had forgotten her gender, yet in a weird way that she was almost frightened to admit, she missed the attention.

The only thing that prevented her from completely wallowing was the fact that her friend Linzi was due to arrive at Camp Green Lake incredibly soon. She felt excited, but a bit nervous at the same time. Although she had gotten used to Camp Green Lake, the boys, her mother, Mr Sir and Mr Pendanski, she was a bit worried what Linzi would make of it all. She probably would approach it in the same way she had at the beginning- disgust with a definite amount of fear to accompany it. Yet, she felt proud of Camp Green Lake in a way, how she had survived there. It wasn't quite a home, definitely not, but she felt comfortable there, almost content- and certainly not frightened anymore.

She hadn't really told the boys about Linzi coming, nor did she mention that she would be visiting soon. She wasn't sure why. They'd definitely be meeting her, particularly because she'd be digging holes alongside them. She wasn't sure what their reaction towards Linzi would be and she felt a little anxious thinking about it. She wanted her friend, who she hadn't seen in such a long time, all to herself. She didn't want to share her with the D-tent boys. Linzi had always been a little bit more boy-mad than Sophie had been, and this was something that also made her feel anxious. But Sophie tried to stick to the positive- she had so much to tell Linzi, and they'd have fun, she'd make sure of it.

The day before Linzi was due to arrive, Sophie felt a growing bubble of anxiety and excitement in her stomach. She couldn't help but smile to herself, but at the same time she had bitten all her nails until she had barely any left. The boys kept teasing her for her odd behaviour, making out that she must have gotten 'lucky,' with one of the guys to be acting so jolly. This caused a weird flickering moment of eye contact between her and Squid and a stony silence from Stanley whilst the rest of the boys laughed. But Sophie just shook her head, and smiled quietly to herself, proud that she was still currently keeping Linzi as her secret.

 **Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Sophie somehow, miraculously, managed to convince her mother to let her have the day off digging on the day that Linzi was due to arrive.

Linzi was supposed to be getting there at about ten in the morning, and Sophie spent the whole morning tidying the cabin in an attempt to make it more homely, but also to keep herself busy as she anxiously waited.

The bus was an approaching dust cloud in the distance, yet Sophie still rushed out of the cabin, eagerly awaiting the bus's screeching brakes for the first time since she had arrived there.

Linzi stepped off the bus, lugging an over-sized suitcase behind her. Her long, sleek, black hair glinted in the sunlight. Her olive complexion looked smooth beneath a floaty white shirt and denim shorts. Sophie darted forward to help, grabbing her friend in a tight embrace as she did so. Linzi's dark brown eyes crinkled as she smiled, "Oh my gosh, Soph, it has been far too long!"

"I know," Sophie gasped, winded from the forcefulness of the hug she gave, along with the weight of Linzi's suitcase, "I have so much to tell you!"

"I bet you do! Let's get out of this heat though. Your mom has air con, right?"

As soon as they were in the cabin, the gossip started. Sophie stole two cans of coke for her mother's fridge, assuring herself that he mother wouldn't notice and, even if she did, surely she wouldn't moan at her whilst a friend was visiting.

"You haven't missed too much at home," Linzi said as she snapped open the can, the bubbles hissing, cutting into what she was saying, "Your Aunt and Uncle miss you, I can tell, they are literally counting down the days until you are home. I have been missing you too. I have been so bored all summer without you being there! I miss our coffee dates and Saturday night sleepovers."

"Me too! I can't tell you how rubbish it has been not being able to tell you things!"

"Well, I'm all ears now, tell me…what's your mom like?"

"Pretty much what I expected…maybe even worse, actually. I barely see her throughout the day and she gets me to do chores and things."

"Gosh, that doesn't sound fun. You would think she'd do the nice motherly things before she does the tedious, annoying motherly things."

"It gets worse…she makes me dig the holes…"

"What?!" Linzi spluttered on the coke she had just slurped, "Isn't that the punishment here?"

"Yeah, I don't know why she makes me do it…" Sophie paused. Clearly Linzi didn't know she was going to have to do it too, "Ok, Linzi, there's something I gotta tell you."

"What's that?" Linzi paused, looking at her friend with a concerned expression.

"One of the conditions for you to stay…was that…you would have to dig holes with me," Sophie said sheepishly.

Linzi's complexion appeared to turn paler for a second, she gave Sophie a sudden shocked look but then shook her head slightly and smiled, "It'll be okay. I'm sure it's not too bad…"

"It's bad," Sophie admitted, "But it won't be as bad with the two of us."

"I might even get a suntan," Linzi grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, I know it has been a really long time since I last updated this FF and for that, I apologise. I have obtained a bit more extra time recently to hopefully fire out a number of new chapters and keep it updated. I'd love to hear what you think!**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **Chapter Five**

"It can't be all bad!" Linzi kicked off her shoes and tucked her long legs beneath her, "I mean, being surrounded by all these bad boys. There has got be some cute ones!"

"They're …okay, I guess," Sophie said warily.

"Just okay? Come on! You know I'm a sucker for a bad boy!"

Sophie had almost forgotten, it had seemed like such a long time since her and Linzi had hung out. When they strolled through town together, Linzi did tend to have an eye for the rougher looking types.

"I didn't realise it was such a thing for you," Sophie giggled, "Well, be careful, remember…they are here for a reason."

"I know," Linzi sighed, "but I think I could look past the casual robbery or two."

Sophie laughed, hoping that Linzi was teasing, "Oh Linzi, what am I going to do with you?"

Linzi grinned.

Suddenly, there was a loud rap on the door.

"Howdyy!" the sing-song voice of Mr Pendanski echoed through the door, "you girls in there?"

"Who's this?" Linzi jumped up to open the door before Sophie could stop her, "Your mum's boyfriend?"

"What? No! It's Mr Pendanski."

"Why, hello there, Mr Pendanski!" Linzi said, as if she knew him, opening the door, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Mr Pendanski looked slightly taken aback, "Um, hello….Linzi, right? Well, I'm here to take you girls to the digging site, your mom wants you both to dig the hole today?"

"What?!" Sophie raged, springing up from where she was sat, "No we are not! Mom said I was allowed the day off…for Linzi getting here!"

"You must have misheard," Mr Pendanski said, shaking his head in a faux sympathetic way, "She said you could have the MORNING off, she still expects you to dig your hole."

"No she didn't…she said the DAY. I heard her. I'm not coming. By the time we get out there and digging, we will definitely be digging in the hottest part of the day…it might even take us all day!"

"I would advise that you come with me, Miss Walker," Mr Pendanski said, a little too formally, "you know there will be trouble if you don't…"

Sophie shook her head, crossed her arms and stood firm.

Linzi looked from Sophie to Mr Pendanski and then back to Sophie again. She placed her hand on Sophie's arm, "it's okay, Soph. We'll go dig the hole. I don't mind. I kind of want to go, I want to meet the boys." She gave Sophie a small smile.

"Trust me, you don't want to do that," Sophie insisted.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am going to try and get a few chapters in a row just to keep the FF flowing a little bit. Would love to hear what people think. Any constructive criticism is also welcome.**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Chapter Six**

When Linzi hopped out of the water truck, Sophie was certain that D-Tents' jaws almost hit the desert floor. There was sudden flurry of movement and noise.

"Another girl!" Sophie had never seen Armpit jump so quickly out his hole before.

"Kick ass, you didn't tell us you were going to have company!" X-ray sounded almost offended.

Zigzag ran in zigzags, holding onto his ears and saying something about how he can't handle two alien priestesses, it was too much for him.

"Wow, Chica, great find. This one is smoking!" Magnet winked at Linzi, who giggled.

Sophie tugged on Linzi's arm (Linzi was too preoccupied with playfully twisting a long strand of dark hair around her finger, whilst making eyes at Magnet, to even notice) and dragged her over to the spot they were supposed to be digging.

"Right, we dig here. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can go."

"They are cute!" Linzi gushed.

Sophie couldn't hide a slight scowl, "Right, you need to get a grip. I don't want to spend any longer here than I have to." She began to show Linzi exactly where to dig and how to do it as efficiently as she possible could, "you're going to get tired and hot really quickly, so go at a steady pace and conserve the water as much as you possibly can."

"You make it sound so difficult," Linzi teased.

Sophie just looked at her, "You just wait and see."

The boys were still all gormlessly staring at them as they started to dig. Sophie tried her best to ignore it. She didn't want to be wasting her time; she wanted to be spending quality time with her friend that she hadn't seen in ages. Linzi didn't seem to mind though, she kept pausing, resting on her shovel, scanning the boys' faces and physiques and smiling at them.

It wasn't long before X-ray had made his way over, closely followed by both Armpit and Magnet.

"Hey, Kick-ass, you didn't tell us that another girl would be turning up?" X-ray repeated his statement from before.

"What is this? Are we becoming a unisex camp or something?" Armpit grinned.

"What did you do, Chica? I like the naughty ones," Magnet grinned.

Sophie shook her head, "fresh meat" made them all act so weird.

"I didn't know I had to report to you for everything," Sophie muttered, a little more harshly than she intended.

X-ray almost looked a little hurt, "well…you don't…thought it was strange you didn't mention it, that's all."

Armpit, ignoring Sophie's bristliness, squeezed past her and stuck his hand out to Linzi, "Hey, I'm Armpit…and you are?"

Sophie raised her eyebrows at his 'politeness.' Linzi shook his hand, "I'm Linzi. Armpit can't be your real name, can it?"

Armpit laughed and exchanged looks with the other boys.

"Naw, we all have nicknames here," X-ray took the lead, naming the boys in D-tent before finally resting on Sophie, "and she's Kick-ass."

Linzi started laughing very loudly at this, staring at Sophie with surprised eyes, "You're Kick-ass!" Her laugh was quite shrill, exaggerated, and the boys quickly joined in.

Sophie glowered a bit, "seems like it."

"Well, who am I?" Linzi prompted.

"Well, we need to get to know you a better first," X-ray replied, in a tone that bordered on seedy, causing Sophie to shoot him a sharp look. Linzi just giggled again. Sophie was finding herself getting a bit annoyed at this new giggle Linzi appeared to have adopted upon entering Camp Green Lake.

"Right, now introductions have happened, do you mind leaving? We need to get this hole done so we aren't here all day." Sophie butted in.

"Naw, we ain't going yet," X-ray said, arms folded, "not until you or Linzi tells us why Linzi is here."

"Fine, she's my friend. She's come for a visit. Happy now? Big mystery solved!" Sophie said through gritted teeth.

"Aw, dammit!" Magnet exclaimed, "I was hoping we were gonna have a girls camp!"

"We can still dream," Armpit said, patting him on the back.

"Never mind," Magnet turned to Linzi, "if you are bored after digging, come hang with us in the Rec Room. Then we can get to know you better." He winked.

Linzi just giggled again. Sophie frowned, "yeah right."

The girls did end up digging into the hottest part of the day. The sun glared down on them in a merciless wave of soul-destroying heat. Beads of sweat poured down Sophie's face, her arms ached, her throat parched, her hands blistered. Linzi loved horses, and would often work for hours down at the local stables, but even she wasn't accustomed to this level of manual labour. She kept taking long breaks, leaning on the shovel in defeat, her interest long distracted away from the boys that an hour or two previously she had been hair flicking and smiling towards. Their interest seemed to have waned a bit too. Like the girls, they were intent on getting the job done as soon as possible. Zero had already left and Armpit looked as though he would be leaving soon too.

Linzi hadn't spoken much for the past half hour. She paused yet again, resting on the handle of the shovel, mascara streaming slightly under her eye from the heat. She took a short swig from the canteen before tiredly turning towards Sophie, "this isn't funny…this is torture. Your mom makes you do this?"

"I know, right. It is crazy."

"Why don't you just tell her to piss off?"

"Would you tell your parents to piss off?"

"Um..no, but they are never as unreasonable as this." She took another short swig.

"My mom…well she's got this thing about her…everyone just does whatever she says."

"Can't wait to meet her properly," Linzi said through gritted teeth. She attempted a few more shovelfuls of dirt and then, all of a sudden, causing Sophie to jump, she threw the shovel on the ground.

"What if we just don't do it? Huh? What is she going to do? Ground you?"

Sophie raised her eyebrows slightly, and shrugged. She was sure it would be more than just a grounding. Just thinking of what her mom might be capable of made her nervous.

"Come on," Linzi protested, "Quit with me, go on strike. We will go back to the air conditioned cabin, put our feet up."

Sophie paused and leaned on her shovel, "I don't know if I can."

"Sure ya can…throw the shovel. Do it…throw the shovel! THROW THE SHOVEL!"

The boys had started to look over at this point, distracted by the loud noises.

Sophie couldn't help but laugh. She threw the shovel. It clanged against the hard, dusty ground.

"C'mon," Linzi linked her arms with Sophie, "Let's go."

The two girls started making their way back to camp.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The two girls were sipping on cool cans of coke and giggling away in the front lounge when the warden entered the cabin. She nodded a hello at Linzi and then made her way to her bedroom to get changed without so much as an exchange of words.

Sophie had felt tense. She was sure her Mom was going to say something about the incomplete hole and the silence unnerved her even more.

As her Mom made her way back into the lounge, dressed in exercise gear, Sophie was sure Linzi was about to witness her mother's fiery temperament. Sophie searched her mother's face for the usual displeased expression…it wasn't there. In fact, it didn't appear her mom was going to say much at all, instead she began setting up her treadmill.

Linzi was staring at Sophie, sensing her friend's tension, and Sophie was about to suggest that they move into her room when the warden spoke, "See girls, wasn't too hard today, was it? I expect you to be up bright and early tomorrow for hole number two."

Both girls looked at one another with shocked expressions on their faces. "What?" Sophie couldn't help but blurt out.

"You know the deal with the holes," the warden couldn't hide the annoyance in her voice, "Linzi can only come here if you dig a hole, it's important."

Sophie half expected Linzi to say something, judging by all the bravado she had witnessed out on the digging site, but Linzi stayed silent.

"Yes, I know," Sophie said slowly and carefully, "Well…we'll be going to my room now."

The warden shrugged, shoved her earphones into her ears. The tinny sound that followed hinted at the high volume of music. She began a steady pace on the treadmill. Conversation over.

"Let's not," Linzi protested, vocal now they were out of earshot, "let's go to the Rec Room, we were invited."

"Um, no! We are not going there. Even if we were invited," Sophie grumbled.

"Oh, why not?" Linzi whined.

"Because it's a mess in there, there's nothing to do. We'd have more fun hanging out here, trust me."

"But I want to go," Linzi huffed, "please."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Sophie shook her head, remembering the initial reaction to her when she first arrived. She'd probably be okay to be in there at this point, the boys at CGL were almost completely bored of her now, but Linzi was a different story, "it's not safe. Some of these boys are really dangerous."

"Surely we'd be safe if we are with D tent," Linzi said.

"In some ways, but it can start fights. I don't want them getting in trouble for the sake of us," Sophie said firmly.

Linzi pouted and tried to give Sophie the puppy dog eyes, making Sophie laugh.

"We won't go the Rec Room, but if you REALLY want to, we could hang with D-tent for like half an hour in their tent. It's a bit safer there. That's only if you really want to though…and ONLY half an hour…no more," Sophie relented.

Linzi made a whooping noise, "yay, thank you! Hang on…I need to go and reapply some lipgloss. I will only be a minute."

Sophie rolled her eyes. She could never remember her friend being this boy-mad. It was strange how quickly things could change over a summer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for all of you who have continued to read this FF. I have really enjoyed writing it and would love to hear what you think about Part 2 so far. Thanks to** Slytherin Princess H. **for the review. There is a tiny bit of Squid in this chapter (see if you can spot it) but I promise you there is a lot more of Squid and Sophie to come.**

 **Once more, thank you for reading, let me know what you think**

 **Chapter Eight**

The two girls made their way over to D-Tent. Sophie wasn't even sure if the boys would be in the tent at this time but she was sure it wouldn't be too long before they congregated back at the tent. They entered the tent and spotted Stanley and Zero sitting together, writing on some paper. Both boys jumped as the girls entered, and scrambled to hide the paper away. It was strange; Sophie raised her eyebrows, "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," Stanley's eyes didn't quite meet Sophie's. She wasn't sure if this was because she had caught them doing something they were embarrassed about or if it was because he was still mad at her.

Sophie and Linzi both made space for themselves on some cots and sat down.

"What are you girls doing here?" Stanley asked, looking shyly at Linzi as Linzi scanned the tent, taking everything in.

"Just wanted to hang out," Sophie shrugged.

"Well, the others aren't usually back for another twenty minutes or so," Stanley said in a way that Sophie couldn't help but interpret as ' _Squid isn't back for another twenty minutes or so, why are you even bothering with us?'_

"Maybe we aren't so bothered about the others, maybe we were actually looking for you," Linzi said, in a flirty tone that made Sophie glance at her friend in surprise.

Stanley flushed bright red and mumbled something incomprehensible, unable to handle the directness. Zero remained apathetic.

"Aw, aren't you cute when you blush!" Linzi wasn't deterred at all, she just moved a cot closer.

Sophie nudged her and whispered, "Stop teasing him, it's cruel."

"I'm not teasing him," Linzi shot back, and then turned directly away from her friend, "So, Stanley…is it?"

"Yes, Stanley Yelnats the Fourth…or you could call me Caveman, that's what the rest of the guys call me."

"Ooh, Caveman," there was that giggle again, "I can definitely see that…big and strong!"

Stanley almost went as red as the cap he was wearing, Sophie couldn't help but cringe. She decided to block the shameless flirting out by going to sit by Zero who had somehow managed to slink over to his campbed in the corner without anyone really noticing.

"How's it going?" Sophie sat on the edge of the bed without invitation, Zero's mouth twitched in a small smile but he didn't reply. She could sense a bit of agitation. She knew she had to play this carefully so she just leaned back against the cabin wall and stretched her toes out, not attempting to push him for conversation.

They stayed quiet for a while, watching Linzi chat away to Stanley, and Stanley flounder for anything particularly coherent to reply back to her.

"She's a bit full on, isn't she?" Zero said quietly, after what felt like ages.

Sophie chuckled, "Yes, she's always been the loud one, but…if I'm honest with you…I don't think I've really seen this side to her either. I suppose CGL effects different people in different ways."

Zero nodded at this and his eyes widened slightly.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the loud commotion and chatter of the rest of D tent returning from their rec room revels. Magnet was the first to enter the tent and the expression on his face to see Linzi there was absolutely priceless, "aww, Chica… I knew you couldn't resist my invitation for tonight…see Armpit," he shoved Armpit playfully, "told ya she'd come."

"Just a moment," Zigzag suddenly pushed past the other boys and made his way over to Linzi who automatically moved backwards, already uncertain of him and his odd behaviour out on the digging site. He brought his face really close to Linzi, so close that for a moment Sophie thought he was going kiss her and was about to leap in to save her. Instead, he looked carefully at both of Linzi's ears, nodded his head, turned back to the others and said, "it's okay, she's not in contact with the mother ship at the moment." Linzi pulled a face.

"Ignore him, he's harmless" X-ray stepped forward, always the voice of reason.

Linzi nodded, but she didn't look convinced, she glanced at Sophie for reassurance, Sophie just grinned.

"We've got a bone to pick with you!" Armpit piped up, his tone imitating seriousness, but his face not matching it as he smiled down at Linzi.

"What's that?" Linzi asked, still staring warily at Zigzag.

"Yeah, Chica, I know you are both smoking hot…but still, no excuse to leave us with all your work," Magnet shook his head as he collapsed onto his cot.

"What do you mean?" Linzi looked confused.

"Your hole," Squid said, matter of factly, chewing on his toothpick, "You left your hole unfinished."

"Well, you didn't have to do it," Sophie said haughtily.

"Yes, we did," X-ray insisted, "and quick…before Mr Sir came back for rounds."

"You didn't have to cover up for us," Sophie sighed, "We could take it,"

"Yeah, we were all prepared to stand up to Sophie's mom," Linzi said confidently. Sophie rolled her eyes, not quite believing that would be the case if it actually came to it.

"We wouldn't let you guys take a fall, Sophie's part of D-tent…and well, you've just got here, Linzi, we don't want you to get scared of this place and run off," X-ray said.

"It'd take a lot to scare me," Linzi jokingly puffed her chest out, causing all the boys to stare.

"Hey…" Stanley piped up, "this whole protecting the rest of D-tent isn't quite true…remember when Magnet stole the sunflower seeds and…"

"Shut up, dawg," Armpit cut over him. Stanley shut up.

Sophie felt a bit guilty and glanced over at Linzi who had an equally guilty expression on her face, "I guess, we've got to do it now," Linzi said quietly, "It's not fair on you guys, and we've only got one hole between the two of us." Sophie nodded in agreement.

The rest of the evening was spent with the boys seemingly taking it in turns to impress Linzi. Sophie remained next to Zero as his section of the tent was sort of separate from everyone else and for some reason, she didn't really feel like joining in too much. She had a funny feeling in her stomach that seemed to intensify whenever Squid glanced over at Linzi and smiled at her.

Zero seemed to be watching her closely, he nudged her slightly; a pack of cards in his hand. They played a near to silent game of snap until Sophie realised that it was probably getting a bit too late, and if they were going to be expected to dig tomorrow, they'd need a decent night's sleep. It took her a while to drag Linzi away from the tent. The boys seemed so enthralled by a girl who would react so enthusiastically to their advances and flirt back with them, they weren't willing to let her go anytime soon, and Linzi didn't seem that keen on leaving either. Sophie ended up practically dragging her out by her arm.

"Oh, aren't the lovely!" Linzi exclaimed as they began to walk back to the cabin, Sophie still (probably unnecessarily) dragging Linzi by the arm- almost as if she was scared that if she let go, Linzi would run back.

"Hm," Sophie responded.

"Hey, Linzi...Kick-ass…wait a moment!"

Sophie was about ready to punch whoever had followed them out. It was Stanley, jogging slightly to catch up with them.

"Um, Linzi, is it okay if I have a word with you a second?" he asked, Linzi nodded and they both looked sideways at Sophie who hadn't budged, "In private."

Sophie huffed slightly.

"It's okay, Soph, I'll catch you up," Linzi smiled.

Sophie shrugged, turned on her heel and started making her way back to camp, that gnawing feeling at the bottom of her stomach getting more intense by the minute.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Sophie heard Linzi running after her , just as she was walking up the cabin steps. She turned to face her friend and tried to read the expression on her face as she approached, curious as to what Stanley wanted to 'privately' talk to her friend about. Whatever it was, Linzi had a big grin that stretched across her face.

"Soo, what was that all about?" Sophie asked, as playfully as she could.

Linzi just carried on grinning and shook her head slightly, "Ooo, I am not sure if I can say."

"Go on," Sophie nudged her as she opened the cabin door.

"No, I can't. You'll find out though, maybe," she teased.

Sophie wasn't really in the mood to pretend to want to play games, she tutted slightly and a bit more haughtily than she intended replied, "fine," and closed the cabin door behind them, perhaps a tad more forcefully than she meant to.

Linzi raised her eyebrows and dropped the silly tone, "Soph, you'll find out when it is best for you to find out," she tucked a stray strand of Sophie's unruly hair behind her ear in an almost affectionate manner, "trust me."

The cabin was very dark and very silent.

"Your mom's gone to bed?" Linzi inquired.

"Yes, guess so," Sophie shrugged.

"No offense, Soph, but I'm slightly relieved. She's a bit intimidating actually."

"Told you so," Sophie smiled, glad that she had someone from home to witness first-hand what she was having to endure.

The two girls made their way towards Sophie's room, passing the Warden's bedroom on the way. The door was ajar and the warden had, in fact, not gone to bed. She wasn't in there at all.

"Oh, you're mom's out," Linzi said, sounding slightly surprised.

"Yes, that's weird, it's getting pretty late. She's not usually really out at this time," Sophie wondered what sort of jobs the warden might have to do this time of night, "I hope nothing bad has happened in the camp."

"No, we would have heard something when we were walking back from D-tent. It was pretty much silent out there," Linzi still looked a little worried.

"To be honest, I never know what she is doing a lot of the time. Her job is just…very weird to me," Sophie said.

"Yes, well aren't most adult jobs?" Linzi laughed, "I'm not rushing in to growing up and getting a career anytime soon, I can tell you that for sure!"

"Well, my Mom seems to think I'm going to take over this place when I'm older," Sophie laughed.

"Oh my god, is she mad? No way…I'm not going to travel all the way out here every time I want to see you," Linzi said, dismissively.

"Too right. We best get to bed now…a thrilling day of digging tomorrow."

"I can barely contain my excitement…"


End file.
